Frank Littig – Early Tenor Banjo Composer

Frank Leo Littig (1878 – 1967) is a neglected master of the tenor banjo – something this page attempts to address. I came across a folio of solos by him from 1924, which I thought were definitely worth sharing with people. My cyber-friend, Marc Smith, was inspired to do the background biographical research. And so, between the two of us, here we present a snapshot of the life and work of Frank Littig.

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I have made a number of recordings of Frank’s music, including videos, below. But first a little survey of his banjo books. He was also known for various ukulele books. None of the books I’ve seen have a picture of him, and I’ve been unable to find one online. If you know of one, please let me know.

Books

The books I could find reference for, which include reference to banjo in their title, are:

Littig’s New HarmonySelf Instructor Chords for Tenor Banjo and Tenor Guitar. Published by The Chart Music Publishing House, 1923.PDF file: Littig Chords

There is also a similarly titled, “Littig’s New Harmony Self Instructor – Diagram Chords and Strokes for Banjo “C” Notation”. I’ve no way of knowing at present whether this is for Plectrum, 5-string, or Tenor banjo:

The September 1929 edition of Popular Mechanics has a small two-line ad: “Songwriters! Melody for your words, one dollar. Frank Littig, Nipomo Calif.” And another along the same lines in 1931: “Melody For your words one dollar Frank Littig Nipomo California“.

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MUSIC

Here are my free TAB and Standard Notation pdf files. They’ve taken me a little while to put together, so I hope you treat them with respect. Frank’s music is idiosyncratic, at times simply beautiful, other times bordering on the bizarre. He clearly had a command of the instrument, and a good sense of humour.

1900 Census: Age 22, living in Rock Island, IL with his divorced mother, Augusta Gehrt Littig, her mother, Augusta Gehrt, and his two sisters, Grace Augusta Littig and Mamie Atlanta Littig. His occupation is listed as “Day Laborer”.

1910 Census: Age 32, living in Denver, CO. Occupation: “Mattress Maker”. His mother Augusta and sister Mamie are also found living in Denver in this Census, but in a different house.

Frank’s paternal ancestry is French. His paternal great-grandfather, Peter Littig was an ardent supporter of Napoleon, fought at Waterloo, etc. He emigrated to American (Davenport, IA) after Napoleon’s last hurrah.

The Littig family was prominent in both Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa (which are merely separated by the Mississippi River). A family home (built by Great-Grandfather John Littig) in Davenport, IA still exists and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Frank’s maternal line is mostly German, he has one Civil War veteran (Union), Grandfather Ferdinand Gehrt (1825-1916), who fought in the 116th Illinois Infantry. Ferdinand is listed as a “Furrier and Cap maker” in the 1850 Census.

Frank had two sisters, Grace Atlanta Littig Boyer (1881-1941) and Mamie Augusta Littig Marus (1884-1959). Grace had two children, Lois (b.1903) and William (b. 1904). She worked as a “Milliner” (her grandfather’s occupation). Mamie had one daughter, Dorothy Maurus Naapkie (b. 1910) and worked in various candy factories as a “chocolate dipper”.

Update: 6 March, 2017. A note from a relative of Frank Littig:

“I met him when I was 5 years old in 1937. He was living in Whittier, CA and worked in Hollywood in the film industry. He played guitar in bands and was an extra in some movies 1935-1940 era. He was my Grandmother’s brother, my Father’s Uncle. He did write some music for movies but I don’t have any of them.”